Line #77 Main/CloserThanTheyAppear


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4	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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9	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/JurassicPark1993 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/T-rex2.jpg]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:Must go faster.]]
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12	Rear-view mirrors sometimes come with a warning: "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."[[note]]These mirrors are convex, so they provide a wider field of view at the price of making the images of objects smaller, and therefore apparently farther away.[[/note]] This is not reassuring to the character who looks into the rear-view mirror [[Film/JurassicPark and sees a]] ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' [[Film/JurassicPark running after his car]]. Especially if said ''T. rex'' appears to be disturbingly close as it is.
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14	TruthInTelevision in some countries! Except for the ''T. rex'' part. [[KentBrockmanNews For]] ''[[ScienceMarchesOn now]]''...
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16	Compare DangerTakesABackseat.
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18	An interesting note: some examples of this trope (including the TropeCodifier) show this message on the driver's side mirror. In RealLife, it only ever appears on the ''passenger'' side mirror. In the USA and Canada, the driver's side mirror is required to be flat, so putting the warning message there would be inappropriate. In Europe, the driver's side mirror may also be convex, but the ''warning'' is not required. See Website/TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_mirror#Planar.2C_convex.2C_aspheric for even more detail.]]
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20	----
21	!!Examples:
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23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Comedy]]
26	* Bill Kirchenbauer has a bit about this:
27	--> "We've all seen that message, right? 'Objects in this mirror are a lot closer than they appear.' BUILD THE MIRROR SO THE THINGS LOOK LIKE WHERE THEY ARE!"
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
31	* Seen in a ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' cartoon: The rear-view mirror is entirely filled with an eyeball magnified hugely.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Fan Works]]
35	* ''WebAnimation/SuperMarioBrosZ'': In the second episode of the reboot series, when Wario and Waluigi stole one of the Chaos Emeralds and are driving away on their car to sell it for profit, they notice Luigi and Yoshi chasing after them at full speed in the car mirror. The mirror states "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE AFTER YOUR TREASURE!".
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
39	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' has Burger Beard seeing [=SpongeBob=] and the gang in his ship's rearview mirror while they pursue him through the streets.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' parodies this, using the meek Rex's reflection in the mirror of a toy car. (It also puts it on the passenger side, correcting JP's error.)
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* Discussed in ''Film/AceVentura''. A thief is trashing Ace's car after Ace recovers a stolen puppy, prompting Ace to shout "Warning! Assholes are closer than they appear!" The thief, not happy about it, [[BatterUp takes a baseball bat to Ace's rearview mirror]].
45	* In the 2008 short film ''Film/TheGerman'', a British fighter pilot [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII in a dogfight]] glances [[RealityIsUnrealistic in his fighter's rear-view mirror]] and spots a German fighter moments before [[AntagonistTitle the German]] fires his guns and blasts the mirror off with a [[NearMisses near-miss]]. The mirror lacks the warning text, but having a machine gun bullet knock the mirror off is as about as close as one can get.
46	%%* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' films:
47	* ''Film/JurassicPark1993'', pictured above, is the TropeCodifier with the iconic shot of the ''T. rex'' pursuing the jeep. Rexy actually does briefly catch up to the jeep before running out of steam and falling behind.
48	-->'''Malcolm:''' Think they'll have ''that'' on the tour?
49	%%** ''Film/JurassicWorld'' gives the trope an encore appearance.
50	%%Zero-context examples, both of them.
51	* ''Film/TheTerminator'' didn't have the inscription, but Sarah glances at her driver's side mirror just as the T-800 fires at her reflection, shattering it.
52	* ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'': In what may be a nod to the ''Jurassic Park'' scene, Decepticon 'Dreads' are viewed to be in hot pursuit in the (passenger!) side mirror of Autobot Dino (Mirage) (he's the red Ferrari).
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
56	* The ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' episode "Sex, She Wrote" (s2ep11) has a closer-than-they-appear shot when Pacey and Andie kiss in her car after admitting their love for each other.
57	* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' has the two sitting in their teacher's car which is [[ItMakesSenseInContext parked in the classroom]]. Drake then uses the rear view mirror to check out a girl behind them while saying, "Objects in mirror may be ''hotter'' than they appear."
58	* The ''{{Series/Eureka}}'' episode "One Giant Leap" has a brief closer-than-it-appears shot of a black hole in the mirror of Carter's jeep, right before it gets destroyed. [[ChronicallyCrashedCar Again.]]
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Music]]
62	* Music/MeatLoaf inverts the phrase as "Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are," describing old memories that are nonetheless very vivid. Despite RuleOfDrama it still doesn't sit right.
63	* Music/TheyMightBeGiants: "She's Actual Size" averts this for the subject of the song: "Squares may look distant in a rear view mirror, but they're actual size, actual size to her."
64	* Bobby Valentino - "Rear View Mirror": "I see your face and I miss you dear / Images in the mirror, closer than they appear"
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Webcomics]]
68	* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' with [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20220627 a rear-view mirror (on an airship)]] saying "Objects in mirror are more horrific than they appears" while reflecting a huge monster.
69	* In one story arc of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', the cast goes on the run from Bun-Bun after Aylee accidentally erases his ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' tapes with her newfound EMP ability. As they're driving away, they see Bun-Bun approaching in the rear-view with "Objects in mirror are meaner than they appear."
70	%%* [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos354.html As per trope]] in ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience''.
71	%%* Played with in a strip of ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship''.
72	%%Zero-context examples.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Web Video]]
76	* ''WebVideo/{{Oxventure}}: Extinction'', being one big ShoutOut to ''Film/JurassicPark'', uses this for one of its thumbnails, with the party's [[DraconicHumanoid Dragonborn]] Egbert [[DragonsAreDinosaurs replacing the dinosaur]], and the caption reading "Egberts in the mirror..."
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* In ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'' a character reads this off when their car is being chased by a rabid parent who wants to burn ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' because it promotes witchcraft. After they realize what it means, they panic more.
81	* In ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'', Chase Devineaux jokes about this trope to himself as he closely pursues Carmen's vehicle from behind.
82	-->'''Devineaux:''' ACME agents in mirror are closer than they appear!
83	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'':
84	** Parodied in Operation A.R.C.T.I.C., where the mirror on a vehicle says "Missiles in mirror may be closer than they appear".
85	** Parodied in Operation S.I.X. where in a mirror said "Seriously, you don't wanna know how big this object really is!"
86	* "Objects may be less sexy than they appear" shows up on a high-tech clothes shop mirror in ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}''.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'': In "Hercules and the Gorgon", his shield (mirrored so he can look at the petrifying beasts... including a Medusa who is actually a CuteMonsterGirl who wants to date him) says "Objects are closer '''then''' they appear".
88	* Used in ''WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'' with incoming plasma artillery in the reflection.
89	* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'', where the mirror says "Objects in mirror may be Uncle Grandpa" ItMakesSenseInContext.
90	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CloserThanTheyAppear